This Alexa-enabled lamp may be too smart for its own good

Posted 04 May 2017 - 09:17 PM

General Electric is producing a new series of smart lights that are brighter than most, at least in terms of intelligence: The Sol by GE is one half smart lamp, one half personal assistant.

The Sol by GE is part of its new C Series of lights it debuted back in December of last year and inside its base it hides a secret – Amazon’s Alexa.

The Alexa inside the Sol works identically to the one you’d find inside an Amazon Echo or Amazon Echo Dot but, as its embedded inside a lamp, can also control the lighting of your room.

Although most would consider a smart artificial intelligence enough of a party trick for one product, GE’s Sol – given that name because its matching shape and function of the sun – can also act as a visual clock and sleep enhancing light.

GE is getting in on the smart home fad on the floor level using a product that the company has produced since … well, the beginning of light bulbs. Smart.

I love … lamp?

To be honest, the Sol is a pretty unique-looking smart lamp. We’ve seen dozens of smart bulbs in the past from companies like LIFX, Element and Philips, but the difference here is the design aesthetic and the direct access to Alexa.

The Sol will be available in September for $199 (around £150, AU$270), which makes it competitively priced with the Amazon Echo which currently goes for $179 (£149, around AU$230).

Pre-orders for the lamp start today and GE is offering a hefty 20% discount to the first few orders. Just keep an eye on it. We’d hate to have a repeat of the airlock sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey...